


Countdown to Christmas

by Frooster



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Christmas songs, Cuddling, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dancing, Decorating for Christmas, Fluff, Han Jisung | Han is Whipped, Idols, M/M, Mistletoe, Movie Night, OT9 - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Kissing, Ugly Sweaters, christmas trees, hyunho and minbin make an appearance, jisung is really excited for christmas, minho is not, minho's birthday, woochan if you squint, yes cuddling is on there twice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2020-12-28 01:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21128684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frooster/pseuds/Frooster
Summary: Lee Minho is a simple man. He wakes up, celebrates whatever holiday applies to the month, then goes onto the next one. His boyfriend, Han Jisung, on the other hand, lives for anything Christmas. As they get closer and closer to the holiday, Minho has to deal with an overexcitable boyfriend. Because the last thing he would do is play along.





	1. 9 Fridays Until Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to a new WIP (because I don't have enough)  
This is going to be pure fluff... and that's all you really need to know for now I'll see you at the end for more notes

** _9 FRIDAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS_ **

Minho was already shivering when he woke up. Still half asleep, he reached to the foot of his bed and pulled the spare blanket up around his shoulders, clenching his jaw to stop his teeth from chattering when the cold fabric hit his bare shoulder. 

_ Why is it so cold in here?  _ He thought as he stared at the black curtain that blocked his bed from the rest of the room. If the curtain wasn’t there, he would see a pile of shorts and sweats in the corner of the room that he needed to wash, and he would see Chan and Changbin curled up on the bed directly across from him trying to conserve heat. 

However, because of his tendency to sleep without anything on, the sheet had to be there, and it sadly did nothing to block him from the harsh cold that radiated throughout the room. Reluctantly, Minho broke the cocoon of warmth he had made with the extra layer of blankets to reach for his phone lying beside his pillow. 

He carefully tucked the blankets around his wrist so only his hand and head were exposed, and he checked the time (it was 30 minutes until he had to get up), then began to scroll through his notifications. 

First, he pulled up his email, checking the daily schedule their manager sent to all of them. Seeing the only plan for today was to rehearse for the comeback and record some new parts in the studio, Minho sighed and closed the app, pulling his messages up next. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who was worried about the chilly dorm. The group chat had several members actively complaining, and right as Minho finished reading the latest message (Woojin, who had apparently just woken up: “ _ what does a man have to do to not freeze his balls off first thing in the morning?”),  _ Chan sent out a reply to everybody. 

**Chan: ** _ just messaged the manager, he says we weren’t expecting the temp to drop as low as it had, and they didn’t turn our heat on last night. He told me they’re getting it on soon, but we may be stuck with it until we get home again later tonight.  _

Minho sent a thumbs up (passive-aggressively, but what Chan doesn’t know won’t hurt him), and then opened the weather app to see just how miserable he was going to be today. Shockingly, the number that flashed on his screen was above freezing, sitting at a crisp 8.7 degrees (Celsius, because Americans are idiots and don’t understand temperature). When Minho scrolled down to see windchill, he shuddered at the “feels like 5.5” that blinked merrily at him. 

Not even wanting to  _ know  _ what it would feel like outside of his sheets, Minho stayed in bed an extra 15 minutes scrolling through his various social media apps, pretending he wasn’t avoiding crawling out of bed into the cursed cold. When he finally ran out of apps to refresh, he stayed in bed for another five minutes (at least), wondering if it was worth it to  _ actually  _ have a comeback. (After all, Stay always tell them to rest and think of themselves first.) He was finally spurred by the hand that brushed against his curtain and Chan’s gentle, “Get the hell up before I see more of you than either of us would like.” 

Minho blindly reached for the sleep shirt he kept on his bed, and when he found it he quickly pulled it over his head, shivering at the mere thought of having to expose his legs to the temperature. 

Deciding that it wasn’t worth it, Minho called out (quite pitifully, but that’s nobody’s concern but Minho’s), “Hey Binnie?” When he heard the younger grunt to acknowledge him, Minho felt his heart rise, “Would you mind throwing me a pair of sweats?” He asked, putting on his most guilt-inducing voice. 

“No.”

“Please?”

“Get them yourself,” Changbin grunted, and Minho heard the younger shift, so he assumed he was still in his own cocoon of covers. 

“But you can actually see where my pants are!”

“Well then don’t sleep naked. Suck it up and get your own pants.”

“You wear long pants to sleep every night I don’t see  _ why  _ you can’t just grab me some sweats,” Minho whined, wincing at the hint of desperation that escaped. 

“Sucks to suck. Think about that the next time you want your junk to air out.”

Minho, fearing the chills he would get for getting out of bed without the proper protection, pulled his last and most deadly tactic. He only used it when he was truly desperate, and Changbin hadn’t picked up on it yet. 

“Changbin?” He hesitated, then, with the full force of the puppy eyes that Changbin couldn’t even see, he delivered the killing line, “I don’t know where my underwear is.”

_ One… _

_ Two… _

_ Three… _

Minho smirked when he heard Changbin sigh and shift in his bed again before bare feet slapped against their hardwood floor. A pair of sweats flew through the small opening in his curtain, and Minho quickly pulled them on, thanks and praise for Changbin oozing out of him as he did. 

Once Minho was properly clothed, he rolled out of bed and began his normal daily routine, only interrupted by the slight shivers that would rack his body randomly. He showered, brushed his teeth and styled his hair, and then made his way to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast for everyone. When he reached the kitchen, he was shocked to see someone was already frying bacon and eggs for the team. 

The image was oddly domestic, and he had seen it many times before; however, he was  _ not  _ used to seeing it with a reindeer gazing at him with the most horrifying googly-eyes he had ever seen. 

“Jisung,” Minho said, prompting the younger man to turn around and fix Minho with a big grin.

“Oh hey hyung!” He said, turning back to the eggs. “I knew it was going to be hard for you to get out of bed today, so I decided to start breakfast for you instead.”

Minho closed his eyes and took a deep breath before going up to the younger, wrapping his arms around Jisung’s tiny ( _ tiny)  _ waist. 

“Thank you,” he murmured into his boyfriend’s sweater-clad back. “But Jisung?” When Jisung hummed in response, Minho pulled back and stepped to his side, making sure Jisung could see everything that passed his face. “Why are you wearing an ugly Christmas sweater?”

Jisung, who had furrowed his brow at the seriousness in Minho’s tone, instantly relaxed when he heard Minho’s question. 

“Oh,” he replied. “It's simple, really. There are nine Fridays until Christmas, and this is the first really cold day we’ve had, so I thought it was appropriate to wear a Christmas sweater!” 

If Minho hadn’t been staring at Jisung the whole time he was speaking, and if he hadn’t known the boy for the past 3 years he would have thought Jisung was pulling his leg. But because he knew his boyfriend, he knew Jisung was being completely serious. 

“Jisung,” Minho began again, moving to start toasting bread for everyone to eat with their eggs. At this point, other members had started filing into the kitchen, also doing double-takes at Jisung’s interesting fashion choice. “You do know it’s October, right?”

“Well yeah,” Jisung replied, scrunching his nose at the older. 

“And you know that in October, we celebrate  _ Halloween _ , right?”

“Well…” Jisung trailed off and looked down at his sweater again. Truly, it was the very definition of Ugly Christmas Sweater. There were reindeer on both sides of the sweater with those disturbing eyes, and on the sleeves, there was a red and green zig-zag pattern that fell all the way down his arm. Each reindeer had a textured red nose that, if Minho had touched it, would have felt like the Ryan plushie Jisung had begged him for last Christmas. Coupled with Jisung’s incredibly ripped skinny jeans (Jisung later explained he had nothing else clean, which Minho sighed at, because that meant he had  _ more  _ laundry to do), Jisung really looked like a prime victim for What Not To Wear. 

“Here, Sungie, I’ll make it simple for you,” Minho said as he passed plates to Jeongin, who was watching their exchange with wide eyes. “Either change into something more seasonally appropriate, or I won’t kiss you at all today.”

Minho ignored the faux-horrified gasps that came from the table behind him and focused on the betrayed look that graced Jisung’s face instead. He watched what he had said filter through the holiday cheer that had already taken ahold of the boy and quickly wake him up. 

Jisung moved out of the kitchen quicker than  _ probably  _ advised considering the size of their dorm, and he made a beeline for what Minho could only assume was his room. 

Minho figured his threat had hit home, and sat down, saving a place for Jisung beside him. As Jisung came back into the room, Minho didn’t even have time to register what he was wearing before he was met with a pair of far-too-eager lips for this side of 9:00 AM. 

He pulled away from Jisung and looked down to see what the younger had changed into. Minho desperately fought to stifle the sigh that threatened to escape him. Jisung had apparently decided to compromise with him on what holiday they were celebrating. 

Printed on the front of the sweater was Jack Skellington, leering at Minho mockingly, as if  _ hearing  _ the complaint that he wasn’t technically a Halloween character. Thankfully, the sleeves were blue and black, so Minho could pretend that his boyfriend wasn’t the holly-jolliest man he had ever seen for October. 

Resigning himself to the sweater for the day, Minho wrapped an arm around Jisung’s shoulders and tucked him into his side, quickly cutting his egg and shoveling it into his mouth. He figured it was worth it when he felt Jisung curl closer to him and hum contently as he ate his own breakfast. 

_ I guess I just have 8 more weeks to put up with now,  _ he thought.  _ Merry Christmas to me.  _


	2. 8 Fridays to Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Minho's birthday, and all he can look forward to is his party after they rehearse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a new chapter, Woojin is part of it, so if it makes you sad to read, please don't.

Minho was, admittedly, exhausted. Management had been working the group incredibly hard for their next comeback, and he barely had time to take a nap in their van before he had to get out at their next stop for filming and shoots. Which is why he was so excited for today. 

Following through with his morning ritual, he checked his email for the boys’ daily schedule and smiled when he saw  _ “three hours downtime for Lee Know’s birthday”  _ at the very bottom of the list. Because they weren’t allowed to go on V-Live for anything other than an expected live, Chan had made the executive decision to have a group movie night, Minho picking the movie, of course. He just had to get through the intense choreo review and vocal training for the day first. 

Rolling out of bed, he grinned before taking a flying leap and landing on top of Changbin. Ignoring his pitiful whine, Minho nuzzled into his bare shoulder. “Binnie guess what,” he coped. 

“My alarm hasn’t gone off yet,” Changbin replied, trying to shake the older boy off of him. 

“No,” Minho sang back, “that’s not it!”

“Minho it’s too early for this. Go pester Jisung or something. He actually signed up to deal with you on a daily basis.”

Minho pouted for a few minutes before wiggling off of Changbin and moving into the hallway. He quickly made his way to Jisung and Jeongin’s shared room, wasting no time before pouncing on the lump in Jisung’s bed. He pulled back slightly when he realized the body under the blankets was too big to be Jisung’s, but quickly snuggled back down when he realized he had tackled Woojin. 

“What are you doing here?” He asked as Woojin reached a lazy hand up to run through Minho’s hair. 

“Chan and Jisung were out late last night working. Jeongin was nervous to sleep alone, so I traded beds with Sungie for the night.” Woojin explained, letting the younger boy snuggle into his side before closing his eyes again and humming.

As Minho curled into Woojin, he felt a lot of his excitement for the day drain away and it was replaced by a calm that only Woojin seemed to be able to give him. “Well,” he said, voice much softer than when he confronted Changbin. “Do  _ you  _ know why today is important? Binnie didn’t seem to care.”

“That’s because you woke him up before 7 in the morning,” Woojin chuckled. “But what’s so special about today Minho? Is the choreographer going to come to review us?”

“ _ Hyung,”  _ Minho whined, ignoring the hand trying to soothe him. 

“Well what else could it be Minnie? It’s not like there’s a birthday today or anything.”

“There is one!” 

“What? Are you sure?”

“Considering it’s my birthday, I’m pretty sure I’d know when it was,” Minho playfully snapped, reaching up to poke Woojin’s neck where he knew the other was sensitive. 

“Your birthday, huh?” Woojin rolled over to look at Minho, and Minho felt his lips curl up at the teasing grin plastered on the older’s face. “So  _ that’s  _ what I was forgetting today. No wonder I suddenly felt older.”

“Ya, hyung! Stop being annoying. You can’t harass me today it’s the rule.”

“Yeah? Since when?” Woojin said, rolling on top of Minho, knocking the breath out of him. 

“Since I said it was my birthday,” Minho wheezed. He started flailing when Woojin bent his head down, blowing a raspberry where his shoulder met his neck. 

Jisung chose that moment to come back into his room, and, instead of doing what any sane person would do seeing their boyfriend under another man, he greeted the pair with a tired wave before leaving the room again. 

Minho frowned at the action, and Woojin easily rolled off of the younger so he could make sure the rapper was okay. He followed Jisung into the bathroom, and when he saw the younger turn the shower on, he began to undress to join him. 

The two boys climbed into the shower, chest to chest because the cubicle wasn’t that large. 

“Hey,” Minho said softly, reaching out to run a hand across the bags under Jisung’s eyes. “Are you okay?”

Jisung leaned into the touch, and Minho felt awe spread through him at the image in front of him. Despite the deep bags under his eyes, Jisung — with no makeup on, water running down his face from his wet mop of hair, and the peace that swept over his face when Minho touched him — never failed to steal Minho’s breath from him. 

“I’m sorry hyung,” Jisung murmured into Minho’s hand. 

“Why are you sorry️, Sungie?”

“It’s your birthday, and I’m just—“ he let out a broken breath, and Minho didn’t hesitate before pulling Jisung to his chest. 

“Hey now, none of that,” Minho cooed as he ran his hand through Jisung’s hair, much like Woojin was doing to him not even ten minutes ago. “You’re working hard, Sung, no one knows that better than me. If you  _ weren’t  _ tired then I’d think you were some type of freak.”

“But still! I should at least be able to be happy about the day my boyfriend was born!” Jisung pulled back to glare at the older boy, and Minho grinned at the indignant (and adorable) glare he was fixed with. 

“How about this,” Minho began, pumping some shampoo into his hand to start cleaning Jisung’s hair. “You’re tired, I know you are, but you need something other than cake to look forward to tonight right?”

Jisung hummed, “If you’re going where I think you’re going with this, the answer is no: I won’t have birthday sex with you.”

“Ye of little faith,” Minho smiled, tilting Jisung’s head back so he could rinse the shampoo out of his hair.  “I was going to let you pick the movie for tonight. I know it’s supposed to be my choice, but I know you don’t like scary things and that’s probably what I’d choose, so I’ll leave it up to you, okay?” 

Nothing could have made Minho feel better than the way Jisung’s eyes lit up when he made that declaration. “Really?”

When Minho nodded, Jisung perked up almost instantly. He quickly helped Minho finish cleaning himself before both boys stepped out of the shower to dry off. 

As he finished Rowling his hair dry, Minho quickly looked over at Jisung and, not wanting to kill his mood but knowing it was necessary, chimed, “And Jisung?”

“Yeah hyung?”

“No Christmas movies.”

“Hyung!”

~~~

Minho was, for lack of a better word, exhausted. Woojin had been right when he guessed the choreographer would be coming to their practice today and he had ripped the group a new one. 

Their dance for their second promotional song, the supposed “cute” one took nearly as much energy as Double Knot, and that choreo was a verified workout by itself. Minho was excited when they finally got the dance to come together, but the hours it took to get there were some of the longest he had experienced. 

Ignoring Chan’s call for takeout choices, Minho flopped onto the couch. 

Jisung joined him minutes later, not curling into him like he normally would due to the heat still radiating from the pair. “Hey,” he said, reaching a hand out in case Minho was feeling up to human contact. 

“Hey,” Minho responded, lacing their fingers together. 

“You were really good today.”

“Says you, you got the dance quicker than normal. I’m proud of you, Sungie.”

“Shut up!” Jisung threw his legs across Minho’s, forgoing his previous desire to let Minho cool off. “Are you ready for the movie tonight? I’ve picked a good one.”

“You have?” Minho asked, wrapping his arm over Jisung’s shoulders. 

Jisung closed his eyes, and started to drift off, but Minho nudged him until he responded, “Mmmm, I compromised with you again.”

“How so?”

“I chose the spookiest Christmas movie because I know how you are about Halloween.”

“Really?” Minho asked, turning to look at the younger boy. 

“Yeah, we’re gonna watch The Addams Family.”

Minho pauses, then looked to where Chan was watching the two from the doorway. They exchanged a look and Minho was given an exasperated, “You deal with it I’m ordering the food,” from the older. 

“Jisungie,” Minho started, redirecting his attention back to his half-awake boyfriend. “That’s a Halloween movie.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is! Where is there  _ any  _ mention of Christmas in the movie?”

“Hyung I'm too tired right now, do we  _ have  _ to argue about it?” Jisung whined, and he was going to tuck his face into Minho’s arm, but reconsidered when he saw the sweat stain under his arm. 

“Just tell me where the Christmas part of the movie is and I’ll let it go, okay?”

“You’re not going to leave me alone are you?” Jisung sighed and pulled away to look at Minho. “In the beginning of the movie, the family is about to dump acid or whatever on a group of Christmas carolers, obviously setting the date for the movie around Christmas time.”

“It’s actually boiling oil,” Minho murmured. “But Sungie, one scene doesn’t make it a Christmas movie. I’d agree if there was something more obvious like a tree, but that’s still just the start of the movie.”

“I don’t care, hyung. If I say it’s a Christmas movie, then it’s a Christmas movie.” Jisung tucked himself back into Minho’s side, and closed his eyes, obviously preparing for a nap. “Just be happy I chose this instead of something like White Christmas. That’s still one of the best movies to ever grace the world.”

“Whatever you say, Sung,” Minho sighed. “Now go to sleep, I need my boyfriend wide awake for when we watch one of his favorite Christmas movies and my favorite Halloween movie.”

“Mm, g’night hyung.”

“Night, Sungie,” Minho smiled at Jisung’s now peaceful face, and then closed his eyes. A three hour break hardly seemed like enough time, but Minho was happy he would get to spend every second of it around the people he loved. And if he had to deal with Jisung’s overenthusiastic Christmas agenda again, he was glad he could do it with his group. 

It was the best birthday present he could ask for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's another chapter done! Sorry it's a few days late, I was going to post it last night, but I think we all know why I didn't. I am going to keep Woojin in my stories, so I hope you will continue to enjoy my works as much as I enjoy posting it. Like always, comments and kudos are appreciated! I'll see y'all next week.


	3. 7 Fridays until Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minho was late getting home from practice. That’s why he wasn’t able to stop Jisung from setting up Christmas 2 months out. But maybe they can compromise

God, Minho was exhausted. He’d been running over choreography for the comeback for the past 3 hours. He was the last one left in the practice room and he was so  _ so  _ ready to go back to the dorm and maybe curl up in Jisung’s arms to whine about his muscles hurting, but he couldn’t yet. He still had to make sure this footwork was clean because he was teaching it tomorrow. 

Logically, he should quit now because if he kept dancing, he would just get frustrated with himself, but there was that little voice in the back of his head whispering, “One more time,” and who was he to argue? He turned the music back on and jogged to the middle of the room, waiting for the cue for him to start. However, before he could, someone opened the door and moved to the stereo, stopping the song. 

“Ya!” Minho called out when he realized the music had paused. “What are you doing?”

“Ah not much,” Chan called back, and Minho winced when he realized it was the older. “I’m just stopping one of my members from killing himself right now.”

“I wasn’t going to kill myself,” Minho whined, straightening and moving to his leader, hiding the wince that came with every other step because his feet were that sore. 

“Really? Then why are you limping?”

“I’m not limping.”

“Then what’s that?” Chan asked, gesturing to Minho’s gait. 

“I’m walking with style,” he sniffed. 

“Yeah, sure you are, and I’m getting a full 8 hours of sleep a night.” Chan bent over and began putting Minho’s things into the duffle he had strewn them next to. 

“Anyways, I figured I should get you relatively early. Jisung is excited Halloween is done. He started on the Christmas stuff a little before I left.”

Minho narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Chan. “He did  _ what?”  _

“I knew you wouldn’t appreciate it. I figured you’d want to celebrate Chuseok or Thanksgiving or whichever major thing you care about for November.” Minho hummed before zipping his bag up. The two looked at each other, then Chan and Minho made their way out of the practice room and started down the hallway, nodding at some of the managers and editors who lingering in the halls. 

The two exited the building and crawled into the van parked out front waiting for them. Once they were safely away from the wind, Minho sighed and turned to Chan. 

“You don’t think I’m being too pushy with the anti Christmas stuff, do you?

Chan’s eyes softened as he looked at the younger boy. Even if he joked around, Minho still wanted everyone to be happy and as comfortable as they could be. “You’re not going too far, Min. Sungie would have said something if it was really that big of a deal. And apart from the two of you, I don’t think any of the other boys really care.”

“But-“

“No, no buts. We all know you don’t have that much of an ass anyways.” Chan leaned over and ruffled Minho’s (still sweaty) hair, ignoring the offended scoff from the younger. 

The rest of the ride passed in silence, both boys taking advantage of the lack of other members to just unwind in the car. When their manager finally pulled up to the dorm, both boys were mentally ready to face whatever chaos met them at the top of the stairs. 

Bidding their manager goodnight, Minho and Chan stepped into the chilly wind and quickly made their way inside. When they were about halfway up the stairs to their door, Minho heard it. 

_ It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! _

_ Everywhere you go _

He shared a look with Chan before they finished the climb and eased the door open, anticipating the chaos that greeted them. 

Jisung was balancing on the back of their couch, strings of tinsel in his hands and thumb tacks sticking out of his mouth as he strung the silver and gold over the walls. Felix and Jeongin were half-heartedly putting their small technicolor tree together while Seungmin and Changbin were dancing to the music in the kitchen. Woojin poked his head out of his room when the door opened, and he gave the two boys who just walked in a warm smile before slipping away from the mess again. 

Minho was surveying the scene, and he realized Chan was doing a head count when he heard a concerned, “Where’s Hyunjin?” 

When the others heard Chan’s voice, they all froze and turned to look at the leader. Jisung’s eyes widened and he called out something that could have been “Hyungs! Welcome home!” But the thumbtacks in his mouth made whatever he said completely incomprehensible. 

“Hi, Sung,” Minho greeted as he slipped his shoes off. “I see you wasted no time in skipping Thanksgiving this year.”

From the kitchen, Changbin snorted and Minho heard a “that’s American!” from Seungmin. Minho raised his middle finger in their general direction and moved to pull his boyfriend off of the couch before he fell. 

“I didn’t skip it,” Jisung mumbled around his tacks. 

“Yeah? Then what’s all this. Christmas stuff doing out?”

“I didn’t skip it, I swear!”

“I believe you Sung,” Minho smiled and patted Jisung’s head. “Here let’s compromise.”

“I feel like that’s all y’all do these days,” Felix chimed from behind the couple. 

“This doesn’t concern you, Lix. I still don’t know where Hyunjin is.” Chan said, pulling the pair at the tree away from the sofa and into the kitchen. 

“You were saying…?” Jisung trailed off, finally spitting the tacks into his hand to speak Minho.  _ Good, he probably realized there’s no way he’s going to get out of this.  _

“Ah, what if,” Minho leaned over to the coffee table where they kept spare sheets of notebook paper in case one of the writers had an idea during movie night or something similar. “We take these papers and make some Thanksgiving decorations.”

“Yeah?” Jisung asked, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of still getting to decorate. “What would we make, though?”

Minho grinned at the absolute child-like wonder Jisung showed. It was one of the things he loved about the younger. His absolute happy-go-lucky attitude and his willingness to work with others to make everyone as happy as possible. It’s pet of what made their relationship work so well. 

“Well I was thinking maybe we could make some hand turkeys?” 

Jisung turned and looked at Minho before glancing back at the paper. Slowly, a grin crawled across his face. “We could leave the tinsel up?”

“I guess we could do that. I love Thanksgiving tinsel.” Minho teased, finally curling into Jisung like he’d wanted to do since he saw the boy in one of his favorite green sweatshirts. 

Jisung wrapped an arm around the older and they both sat back on the couch. “The tree has to go though, doesn’t it?”

“Mmm,” Minho hummed, leaning up to kiss the slight frown off the younger’s face. “Sadly I do think the tree doesn’t quite match the thankful atmosphere. I’ll make a deal with you, though. When Thanksgiving is done and we’ve had our turkey sandwiches or whatever, I’ll help you set the tree up myself. We can even put something in the studio to make it more festive.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise,” Minho and Jisung leaned into each other, reveling in the momentary silence the agreement had brought them. 

But since this was their dorm, the silence didn’t last long. 

“Yes, I understand they’re cute and domestic and all that jazz. I don’t care though. I just want one of you to tell me  _ where Hyunjin is!”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my minsung fic where I forget minsung are the main ship for a second and give the world some desperately needed Minchan...
> 
> No but anyways I hope everybody enjoyed this chapter, and I’m sorry it’s so late I had a busy week :(
> 
> The good news is I’ve already got half of the next chapter written and I’m determined to get it out by Sunday so you’ll have a slightly faster update this time around! Thank you so much for reading!! Please leave a comment or kudos if you’re liking it! I’m lazy so I’m not adding links this time, but you can find me on twt (@kpop_up_ad) and there’s a cc on my profile... I think


	4. 6 Fridays Until Christmas...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aha I hope y'all enjoy

_ Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock _

“Nope.”

_ We wish you a merry Christmas we- _

“Nuh-uh.”

_ I… don’t want a lot for Christmas  _

“Definitely not.”

“Why are you disrespecting my queen like that?” Jisung finally broke from where he was sitting at the stereo. 

“Because,” Minho replied, “it’s not Christmas music season yet.”

“And when is  _ that?”  _

Minho raised an eyebrow at the younger, and Jisung huffed before turning back to the playlist. “I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.”

“No,” Jisung ran a hand through his hair before replacing the snowflake beanie on his head. He was feeling festive today, and Minho knew he was going to have to fight the younger on something Christmas today, he just hadn’t realized it would be music (of all things). “You just said August wasn’t the time to walk in a winter wonderland.”

“And was I right?” Minho stood and crossed the room, draping himself over Jisung and nuzzling into his neck. 

“I think you can feel festive regardless of the time of year,” Jisung sniffed, tapping his phone to let a new song play overhead. 

_ Sleighbells ring, are ya listening? _

Minho closed his eyes and leaned further into Jisung, humming along as the familiar lines washed over him. 

“Wait, this song is okay?” Jisung asked, feeling Minho’s hum against his back. 

“It doesn’t ever directly mention Christmas, did you realize that?” Jisung turned to look at Minho, flushing when he realized how close the older was. 

“No.”

“Listen to it,” Minho presses a quick kiss to Jisung’s cheek and they both turned to the stereo. 

_ In the meadow, we can build a snowman _

_ And pretend he’s Parson Brown _

“He’ll say are you married we’ll say no man,” Jisung mumbled the rest of the chorus, and he jumped when Minho joined him on the last line. “But you can do the job when you’re in town.”

His eyes widened and Minho chuckled, realizing his boyfriend had finally reached the correct conclusion. “It’s a winter song!”

“Exactly,” Minho stood up and held his hand out to the younger. “Now, I know it’s not quite the same as walking in a winter wonderland, but do you want to maybe go dancing right here?”

Jisung grinned and took Minho’s hand. “It would be my honor.” Minho grinned at the younger and pulled him up (maybe with slightly more force than necessary, but it may have been his goal to get Jisung right at his chest, which he succeeded in doing). 

The two twirled around the room, Minho leading the younger through a basic two-step, and dipping him when the song ended. Before they had time to breathe, the next song started up, the jingle bells giving the song away in seconds. 

“Sleigh ride!” Jisung cheered, and Minho grinned at the younger before they were off again, feet moving quickly to match the lively pace of the song. The pair laughed and stomped along to the clip-clops in the music, before twirling about in a way that was  _ completely _ (not) safe. 

As they twirled, laughed, danced, and sang, Minho found himself once again blown away by Jisung’s beauty.  _ This,  _ he thought,  _ this is why I love Christmas. I get to see this joy every second.  _

The holidays had always seemed more commercial to Minho. From the trees to the presents to the commercials that started in late September, it was all a corporate cash grab. But then there were moments like these. The cheesy, absolutely stupid moments that he would never consider doing with someone else, all brought out by his boyfriend and his Christmas cheer. 

His heart swelled as they danced, and Minho felt his biggest grin of the day stretch across his face and the downright  _ gleeful  _ laughter that erupted from Jisung when Minho dipped him at the end of the song. Minho pulled Jisung up, quickly capturing the younger’s lips in a sweet kiss. They stayed like that, wrapped in the other’s embrace, not registering the next song that played until Bing Crosby’s voice washed over them. 

_ I’m dreaming of a white Christmas  _

Jisung’s face lit up as soon as he realized what song it was, but just as quickly, Minho watched his face fall. He turned away and began to walk to the stereo to switch the song, knowing the older would protest if it kept playing, but Minho pulled Jisung back, wrapping his arms around the younger’s waist smiling at the boy’s shocked expression. 

“But it’s not Christmas yet,” Jisung whispered, staring at Minho with eyes wide in shock. 

“Sometimes you just need to dream about Christmas,” Minho responded, gently swaying back and forth along with the music. 

Jisung stared at Minho for a few more seconds before a small smile softened his features and he leaned into Minho’s shoulder. The two moved slowly, none of the previous excitement found in their dance. If anyone walked by the room, they would have seen two figures pushed so close together that they could have just been one very large person, swaying back and forth and definitely not dancing the way idols were expected. But neither boy cared. They allowed the music to wash over them, allowed the hope and joy of the season to overwhelm them, and they enjoyed the peace that came with a fire and hot chocolate, curled under a blanket. Every feeling the pair could associate with Christmas washed over them, and neither cared. 

Tomorrow, Minho would go back to teasing Jisung, but for now, at this very moment, he was content to hope for a white Christmas. And he was excited to imagine what the pair would do Christmas Day. He was excited to get to experience everything with Jisung, and he would do whatever he could to keep that look of pure joy on his face for as long as he possibly could. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter chapter, but I really like how cute this one is. I tried to give y'all some pure minsung interaction because I've been slacking on that (RIP me guys). 
> 
> As usual, if you liked the chapter, don't hesitate to leave me a comment or kudos! You can also find me on twt (@2minlix) so... that's all I've got to say, see y'all whenver I get the next chap up :)


	5. 5 Fridays Until Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jisung has an idea of how to steal a kiss from his boyfriend. Too bad it backfired... or did it?

Minho should have known something was up. He should have known the second Jisung greeted him with a grin far-too bubbly for the younger at 9 in the morning. 

Still, he wasn’t expecting this. 

“C’mon hyung,” Jisung whined from the doorway. “Everybody else did it I don’t see why we can’t too!”

Minho frowned at Jisung, before glancing at the rest of his members, who were trying (and  _ failing)  _ to hide their smirks. He then looked back to his boyfriend, still standing stubbornly in the door. “So you’re telling me you made all of them kiss you before they could come into the practice room?”

“Yeah!” Jeongin chimed from the ground. “I was the first one to come in. He had been waiting ever since he and Channie-hyung and Changbinnie-hyung got done working on the new remix for District 9!”

“Well,” Minho sniffed, “where did you kiss him?”

“Ah, his cheek!” Jeongin replied, blushing and looking at Felix, but the older boy didn’t seem to notice. 

“I gave him an Eskimo kiss,” Felix chirped from where he had sprawled himself across Woojin’s lap in lieu of stretching. 

“A  _ what?” _ Woojin asked from above him. 

“Hyung, you don’t know what an Eskimo kiss is?” Chan said, looking up from where his head had somehow gotten pressed against Felix’s thigh. (Minho would never understand the gravity those two boys had toward each other, but he  _ would  _ that it was downright adorable.)

“You should show him, Channie-hyung!” Felix grinned at the older, and Minho felt a smile creep across his face when he saw a faint blush bloom across the boys’ faces. His grin only grew at the chimes of agreement from everyone else in the room, after all, everyone knew how their hyungs were dancing around each other. 

“Well, it’s uh… it’s really simple,” Chan began, sitting up and leaning over Woojin’s lap, their faces inches apart. “You just… you take your nose and you brush it across the other person’s nose,” as he explained the kiss, he carefully leaned closer to Woojin before their noses barely touched. He then shook his head a few times and pulled away, his cheeks almost as red as Woojin’s. “And… that’s an Eskimo kiss.” 

“Oh,” Woojin replied (quite eloquently, in Minho’s opinion).

Minho let the two linger in (awkward) silence for a few more seconds, before giving Chan an out. “And is that how you kissed  _ my  _ boyfriend too?”

“No!” Jisung called from the doorway he was still stubbornly perched in. “He kissed my forehead! And it was  _ sweet!”  _ Jisung sniffed and turned his back to the practice room, ignoring the confused stares of the staff walking down the hallway. 

“And I-“ Woojin cleared his throat, still obviously flustered (but trying. And that’s what matters). “I kissed the top of his head.”

“I kissed the cheek Innie didn’t kiss,” Seungmin called from the bar he was leaning against to stretch his back. 

“I kissed that little furrow he gets between his eyebrows when he’s mad,” Changbin chimed from the floor, a few feet away from Minho. “But aren’t you the one whose supposed to make sure he doesn’t get that furrow in the first place? I don’t think you’re really supposed to be the cause of it in a healthy relationship.”

“So what I’m hearing here is you all entertained my boyfriend’s dumb ideas and now I’m expected to, too?” Minho asked, feeling his heart clench at the hurt look that crossed Jisung’s face. Based on the glares he got from the other members, they also saw the effect of his idiocy. 

“You don’t  _ actually  _ have to kiss me, hyung,” Jisung muttered after a few seconds of silence. “It was just a cute way to get us excited for the season.”

_ Shit. Goddamn piece of shit. That’s what you are.  _ Minho’s heart thudded in his chest, and when Jisung moved out from under the doorway over to his bag, he didn’t hesitate to move forward before sweeping the younger into his arms. 

“You know,” Minho began, looking at the younger’s flustered expression. “If you wanted a kiss from me, all you have to do is ask.” Minho pulled Jisung’s head down, and placed a kiss on the top of his head, before moving to his forehead. He pressed his lips in the space between Jisung’s eyebrows before turning his head and kissing both cheeks. “You didn’t have to go through the trouble of putting up mistletoe or getting the other members involved.” He ran his nose across Jisung’s and gently kissed the tip of his nose, before pulling back to look at the content look on the other boy’s face. 

“Maybe I did it so you’d have a reason to kiss me in front of everyone,” Jisung said, a soft grin on his face. 

“Like I’ve needed a reason to before,” Minho teased before leaning in and finally connecting their lips. Jisung’s lips were slightly chapped, but that was to be expected. (After all, it  _ was  _ November in Korea.) Despite that, his lips were still soft. Their kiss probably didn’t last more than 5 seconds, a chaste peck compared to other kisses the two had shared, but when Minho pulled back to see that blissful grin on his boyfriend’s face, he realized he would do absolutely anything to keep that look on his face. 

“Okay that was cute and everything,” Chan said from the side of the practice room where their team had been trying to give them the best illusion of privacy they could, “but we  _ do  _ have a concert we need to prepare for.”   
Minho laughed as the group began to move, jokingly booing at their leader but going through the motions to prepare regardless.  _ Yeah,  _ he thought to himself as he linked his fingers with Jisung’s and joined the rest of the group.  _ I wouldn’t change this for anything.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright everybody! New chapter up!! Sorry it took a bit longer this time, I had some things going on at home, but I'm on break now for Thanksgiving, so y'all should expect a bit more consistent update schedule from here on! As always, comments and kudos are appreciated, and you can find me on twitter if you want to yell (@2minlix). Thank you for reading!


	6. 4 Fridays Until Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was Thanksgiving, and Minho was going to make his group celebrate if it was the last thing he did.

Minho stood in line at Subway, a line of 7 sandwiched spread out in front of him, smiling apologetically at the tired worker across the glass as he ordered two more footlongs. Jisung stood next to him, pinkies linked, and even though he had a mask covering most of his face and a hoodie on to be as inconspicuous as possible, Minho could still tell the younger was smiling. 

“Hey,” Jisung said, leaning over to whisper in Minho’s ear as the worker looked at the two, asking what meat they wanted. “I'm going to go to the bathroom, will you order for me? I know you know what I like and don’t.” Minho nodded, and the younger quickly moved out of the (thankfully small) line and headed for the restrooms. 

As soon as Jisung was out of earshot, Minho grinned and ordered 2 turkey footlongs. He then moved down to the vegetables for the other members, noticing that there was a cranberry dressing that wasn’t there the last time he had to order lunch for the team. Quickly listing the veggies the others liked, he added the sauce to each sandwich.  _ I don’t care if someone is allergic, they  _ will  _ celebrate Turkey Day with me somehow.  _ As the workers got to his and Jisung’s sandwiches, the younger came out of the bathroom and moved to the register to start ringing everything up. 

Minho grinned as Jisung went to the standing cooler, pulling 9 waters out of it and tried to carry them all himself. 

“Sir?” the worker said, drawing Minho’s attention back to the sandwiches in front of them. “Is there anything else you would like on these?”

“Ah, sorry about that,” Minho said, leaning over to look at the salads he had piled onto their sandwiches. “May I just have the cranberry sauce on the first sandwich, and a cup of it on the side for the other?” As the worker moved to fulfill his request, Jisung poked his head over to see what Minho had made for him.    
“Really, hyung?” Jisung asked, his eyes gleaming with repressed humor when he looked back to Minho. 

“Hey now!” Minho protested. “We haven’t had a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving. I figured with all the Christmas you’ve forced on me, the least I could do is return the favor.”

As Jisung looked at the older boy, Minho felt a bit of disappointment well up when he realized they were still in public and he couldn’t just pull Jisung’s mask down and kiss the teasing look off of his face. 

“I guess I’ll let it slide this time, but you owe me,” Jisung said, before turning back to the (painfully high) bill. 

“You’re cute together,” the worker said as she wrapped the last sandwich. Minho’s cheeks flushed, but he smiled and thanked her before moving and linking his pinky with Jisung’s again. As the two finished paying and grabbed the many bags, they moved outside and met their manager at the car, quickly loading the food and preparing to go back to the shooting location. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Jisung looked at Minho, who didn’t notice. Minho startled when he felt the younger lean into him, and he looked down when Jisung laced their fingers together. 

“You know, I may tease you, but I really do appreciate everything you do for your holiday purity,” Jisung said, closing his eyes against Minho’s shoulder. “I know it probably causes a few unnecessary fights between us, but I wouldn’t trade those fights for anything, or anyone, else. You make my day so much better by just being in it, and you’re the reason I smile so much, and yes, maybe that’s a problem that my emotional state depends on you so much, but we can worry about that another time. 

“When I think of you, I think of how you comforted me in the shower when I’m sad. I think of all the times you do something stupid just to get me to smile or how hard you’ll work yourself with practice, but still find time to spend with me. I appreciate how much effort you put into our relationship because you could very well not care about it at all, and I would probably still love you just as much. You make it so easy to love you. From your jokes to your passions, and,” Jisung leaned up to Minho’s ear, and whispered, “ _ especially  _ the way you treat me in bed.” He pulled back and laughed at the flustered look that Minho gave him. 

“I love every single thing about you, and what I’m trying to say here is I’m  _ thankful  _ for you. I know we may be in the backseat of a car, and we may not get to be with our families, and it may not even be our holiday, but I’m so grateful you’re a part of my life and you make me celebrate dumb holidays Americans made because it makes me actually slow down and remember why I’m doing what I’m doing.”

Minho looked to Jisung, feeling his heart swell when he saw the open and completely trusting look on the younger’s face. 

“I love you too,” he began, reaching a hand up and pulling Jisung’s head back to his shoulder. “I love how you stubbornly insist Christmas is around the corner, even when it’s a week before Halloween. I love how you actually back down and compromise with me when it comes to the holiday disputes, even though I know a lot of the times I’m unfair to your celebration. I’m glad that you haven’t left me and that you see something in me that makes you want to stay because you make my day so much better every time you laugh or open your mouth.   
“Without you, I would probably have gone insane from boredom or the sheer stress of being an idol. I know everyone on the team is there for me, but I find so much calm in just sitting by you and I don’t understand how, but I do. So thank you for that,” Minho pressed a soft kiss to Jisung’s forehead, smiling at the content hum Jisung gave when he felt it. “Thank you for being a part of my life, and please never change. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without you, and I don’t want to be any other person without you.”

As he finished speaking, their manager finally pulled into the lot they had been shooting at, and the couple quickly got out of the car, grabbing bags and handing them to their members who had been lounging around while they waited for the two to return. (It was their way to give them some privacy, and a semblance of dating, even though the two could never openly date.)

As Minho sat down and started eating, he looked around at the team of boys he had been with for over two years. They had been through so many things together, and he was grateful for every moment he got to spend with them. He wouldn’t trade his team for another, no matter what was offered to him. 

“Sung,” Minho said, leaning into the younger, who had just timidly tried the cranberry sauce Minho had gotten for him. “Remember when you said we weren’t with our families for Thanksgiving? I may not be with my blood family, but I do get to spend the day with this family. I think that’s enough.”   
“That’s cheesy,” Jisung teased, reaching up to kiss Minho’s cheek. “But I couldn’t agree with you more.” 

The rest of the group, used to their PDA, was busy chowing down, and because Minho was so invested in his boyfriend and the sandwich in front of him, he missed the horrified look on Hyunjin’s face when he bit into his BLT. However, he did  _ not  _ miss the horrified screech that came from the other boy and the, “Who put  _ cranberry sauce  _ on my bacon sandwich?”

_ Yeah,  _ Minho thought,  _ this is the best Thanksgiving I could ask for.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates! Are you surprised? You actually got a countdown chapter ON Friday! I'm thankful for each and every person who has been reading, and I hope you're excited... Now that Thanksgiving is done, Minho can finally devote some time to celebrating Christmas! What do you think they're going to do first? 
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are appreciated! Come scream at me on [twt](https://twitter.com/2minlix) if you want! See you sometime next week!


	7. 3 Fridays til Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's officially Christmas season, and Minho starts the season with a bang.

Minho would be the first to admit, when it was the right season, he loved Christmas time. He would wake up bright and early on December 1st and help his mother and father set up the tree and lights for their house. They would always bake the first batch of Christmas cookies together and then share them over hot cocoa while watching whatever Christmas movie Minho wanted to watch. 

Despite doing this since he had been able to walk, Minho was sadly unprepared for the deafening glare of “Jingle Bell Rock” that blared from what he could only assume was their living room. 

Rolling over to check the time, he felt his head throb when the bright screen of his phone flashed at him: 6:43.  _ Dear God,  _ Minho thought, hearing a pitiful grumble from Changbin’s bed,  _ Sungie is really taking advantage of the free day, isn’t he?  _

Slowly, he crawled out of bed, knowing that the only way to get the music to stop was to help with whatever Jisung was doing. “Binnie you gotta get up,” Minho muttered, hearing Changbin whine in response. 

“The music won’t stop unless we do whatever he wants. You should know this by now.”

“He’s  _ your  _ boyfriend. Why don’t you just go and kiss him or something? Make him shut up and leave the rest of us alone.” Changbin sat up, despite the harsh words, and slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed. 

“Don’t see you doing anything like that whenever Seungmin decides to harass us about our outfits or our “unhealthy hair care.” Take some of your own advice, Bin.” 

Minho grinned when Changbin’s cheeks flushed pink and he stuttered out a quick, “We’re not dating! We’re just friends I swear!” 

“Uh-huh, whatever you say, Binnie, I saw you two in the practice room the other day when you thought no one was there.” Minho giggled as he pulled on flannel pants and slipped the first sweatshirt he grabbed on (if it just so happened to be one of Changbin’s, well that wasn’t his fault), ignoring the muttered excuses Changbin was trying to give him. 

“C’mon, I’ll let you use the bathroom first, and I’ll go see if I can convince Sungie to turn the volume down before we get another noise complaint.” Changbin sighed but accepted Minho’s outstretched hand, and the two made their way to the long hallway. The already-narrow hallway was made almost impossible to navigate by totes that were strewn across it. The lids had been haphazardly thrown away from the totes, and Minho was shocked at the sheer amount of tinsel and ornaments and garland and lights and… festivity that the group had managed to fit into the boxes. 

Last year, they hadn’t had that much time to decorate because of how busy they were, and it’s not like they weren’t busy this year, but since they had a more successful year, and they didn’t have nearly as much debt as they had at the end of last year, they were granted a few days every month to do whatever they wanted, labeled “Bonding and Mental Health Days” by their managers. Sometimes, members would go into counseling, but most of the time, they got to stay together at the dorms or work on whatever they wanted to. With Christmas being just three weeks away, it seemed that Jisung had decided everyone wanted to decorate today. 

As Changbin separated from Minho, stumbling into the bathroom with the grace of someone who  _ hadn’t  _ been dancing for the past 3 years of his life, the older boy carefully stepped and wove through the hallway. Once he reached the opening, to their living room, he was greeted with even more chaos than before.

Standing precariously in the corner, a tree Minho  _ knew  _ they hadn’t owned before yesterday (suddenly Jisung’s panicked trip to the mall made sense) was being violently fluffed by Felix and Jeongin, who were arguing about the best way to string the lights on the tree. Chan was teetering on top of their sofa as he strung up garland, Jisung was sitting in front of their sad excuse for an entertainment center carefully placing out a nativity scene. He couldn’t see Woojin or Seungmin, based on the clanking from the kitchen, they were likely making breakfast for the frenzied decorators. As he surveyed the area, he did a headcount and realized they were missing someone. 

“Where’s Hyunjin?” As soon as Minho spoke, Jisung’s head shot up, and Minho felt a legitimate strike of fear run down his spine at the gleam in his boyfriend’s eyes. “He’s trapped under the kitchen mistletoe. No one wants to let him loose right now because he already knocked the tree over once.” Jisung stood up, and slowly made his way to where Minho was still standing. “Speaking of mistletoe…” his boyfriend pointed up, and when Minho tilted his head to see what the younger was pointing at, he found himself directly under one of the bushes that had probably been strewn across the entire house. 

“You can’t move until someone kisses you and lets you free.” Jisung took another step closer, his eyes glinting when Minho sighed and leaned against the wall, not disregarding the rules as he had just a few weeks ago. 

“So am I stuck here for a while? I don’t see anyone around who would want to kiss  _ me  _ any time soon,” Minho looked at his feet, regretting not grabbing socks before he left his room, but knowing it would be pointless now. 

“Well, there might be someone here who you could convince to give you a kiss.” Jisung trailed off, glancing at the older boy through his eyelashes, and if he hadn’t been dead set on teasing Jisung for as long as possible, he would have already grabbed the younger and kissed him until neither could breathe properly. 

“Really now? Who would want to kiss me? Channie-hyung?” Minho tilted his head to look at older, ignoring the suggestive eyebrow wiggle and turning back to Jisung. “Definitely not Thing One or Thing Two in the corner over there,” as if on cue, Jeongin took a flying leap for the tinsel that was on the other side of the room as Felix began to cackle as he strung the lights around his arm, obviously proud to have reached them first. 

“Well if they didn’t, I’m sure there’s someone else in this room who might want to kiss you,” Jisung took another step closer and he was  _ this close  _ to reaching Minho, but right as Jisung eased forward, Changbin plodded down the hallway and brushed against Minho’s shoulder.

“Hyung, what are you doing in the entryway?” Changbin glanced at Jisung, taking in the horrified look on his face, then turning back to Minho with that same puzzled look the older was so fond of. 

“Look up, Binnie,” Chan called from where he had moved off the top of the sofa to begin threading ornaments with hooks. Changbin glanced up, and when he noticed the mistletoe, he looked between Minho and Jisung again before his eyes widened in understanding.    
“I’ve got to kiss you, don’t I, hyung?” Changbin turned to look at Minho, and when the older nodded, Changbin’s eyes sparkled deviously, and he raised his eyebrow at Jisung, before reaching up to cup Minho’s face, pulling the older down for a kiss. Now Minho was used to Changbin’s desires to tease Jisung (they were the most like siblings in the group, apart from Chan and Felix), but he wasn't expecting the other to go straight for his lips.

Not letting Changbin’s action phase him that much, Minho quickly looped his arms around the other’s waist and pulled him closer. They stayed like that for a few more seconds, letting Jisung’s horrified squawk draw the attention of everyone else in the room. When Changbin finally pulled away, his cheeks were flushed (even though they had simply been pressing their lips together) and his eyes were sparkling. 

“Guess that’ll teach you not to leave your boyfriend stranded under the mistletoe again, won’t it Sung?” Changbin grinned, patting Jisung on the head and moving to the kitchen to see what his other members were doing. Minho moved out from under the mistletoe, and, after pressing a quick good morning kiss to Jisung’s forehead, he joined Chan on the sofa. 

He muffled his laughter when he heard Changbin’s voice ring from the kitchen, “Jinnie, you’re stuck too? Here, let Hyungie help you.” This was quickly followed by a loud clatter and Seungmin’s confused, “Bin hyung?”

He did nothing to silence his laughter, however, when he looked over to see Jisung desperately jumping, trying to reach the mistletoe to tear it down. As Minho reached over to the speaker that Jisung had “hidden” under the table, he dialed the music down and listened to his member’s banter. 

_ As far as a family Christmas goes,  _ he thought, watching Felix carefully thread the lights while Jeongin helped him, Woojin working through the doorway and Seungmin berated a grinning Changbin with a grateful Hyunjin wrapped around him, and the rest of his members doing assorted activities,  _ this is setting up to be a pretty nice one.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minbin RISE!! 
> 
> ... okay but in all seriousness, I hope you enjoyed this (very late) chapter. I know it had a similar theme to the mistletoe chapter from a few weeks back, but I thought the decorating premise was very cute so I figured some classic minsung teasing coupled with the decorating would go over great. I hope you like this chapter, I'm going to try to get the next one out either later today or tomorrow to get caught back up... Check in on [twt](https://twitter.com/2minlix) for updates on my writings! Thanks again for reading, and I'll see y'all later!


	8. 2 Fridays til Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas cookie time! Minho likes to bake, Jisung likes to make inappropriate comments, surely nothing will go wrong.

Minho was not what most people would call a morning person. Still, that didn’t stop him from silencing his alarm at 4:00 in the morning and quietly rolling out of bed, doing his best not to rouse the two boys in the bed opposite of his. (He knew Changbin was there, but he wasn’t sure if Jeongin, Seungmin, or Hyunjin had decided the dorm was too cold last night.)

Minho got dressed quickly, slipping one of his two pairs of fuzzy socks on, along with a t-shirt and his flannel pajama pants. He padded out of the room as quietly as he could, moving to the bathroom and brushing his teeth before poking his head into the other member’s rooms. 

While he didn’t like waking up in the morning, he enjoyed the isolation that came from being the only one awake in the mornings. Chan had probably only just gone down from writing music, and he knew the leader wouldn’t be up for a few hours. The rest of the group was light sleepers, so they weren’t really an issue for his plans, either. 

Once Minho had reassured himself that he was the only one awake in the dorm, he padded to the kitchen and pulled out everything he would need. Sugar, vanilla, flour, butter, eggs, shortening, a whisk and bowl, and his saran wrap. Minho knew how much the members (Read: Jisung) loved decorating cookies, but the boys didn’t have the patience for the actual baking process. That’s where he came in. He  _ could  _ have woken up at a normal hour with the rest of the boys and he  _ could  _ have prepared the dough after breakfast, but there was something soothing to stirring the dough together with no one to distract him. 

As he quietly clinked around in the kitchen, he began humming along to the radio that began to faintly play from Woojin’s room (he liked to save energy by putting his radio on a schedule. Minho didn’t quite understand why it had to start playing an hour before the older boy woke up, but he wasn’t going to question it.), and he shuffled his feet when he knew the choreography to whatever song was playing. Before he knew it, the clock in their entryway chimed 6:00, and he knew he would be getting company soon. 

Right as he finished rolling the final batch of dough into a ball to chill before the cookies could bake, someone stumbled into the kitchen and promptly latched onto the warmest thing he could find: Minho. 

Minho smiled softly and shuffled towards the fridge, dragging a whining boy with him, and it took him a few more seconds to identify who it was clinging to him. “Hi, Jinnie,” he said, putting the dough up and moving to the sink to begin rinsing his dishes. “Did you sleep well?” 

“Mmmm, still sleepy, hyungie,” Hyunjin whined, burying his face into Minho’s shoulder. “Why are you up so early?” 

“Well, I had to go ahead and do all the boring work for the cookies so you could decorate them with Sungie later. I know you don’t like baking all by yourself, so I was taking a step out for you.” Minho continued to wash dishes, and the two stood there in silence for another few minutes, listening to the rest of the dorm wake up around them. 

As the shower turned on down the hallway (most likely because of Felix, he always liked to shower in the morning and at night) Hyunjin shifted, moving his arms up Minho’s torso and gripping him tightly around his chest. “Hyung, what time did you wake up?”

“I’m not going to tell you that. You’ll be upset.”

“I know you went to bed at 1:00 this morning because that’s when we got home, but what time did you actually wake up?” 

Minho continued to stubbornly do the dishes, moving onto ones that he hadn’t even made dirty, but someone had left in the hope of someone else doing. 

“Was it 5:00?” Minho reached for a cup, accidentally spraying some water on his shirt. “4:30?” Once again, Minho ignored the younger, forcing back a yawn as he reached for the knives that had been put at the bottom of the sink.   
“4:00?” This time, Minho couldn’t hide the wince, and he was sure Hyunjin felt it by the way the younger tightened his grip on him. “You got 3 hours of sleep? Hyung we’ve talked about this!”

Maybe it was because of how early it was, but Minho didn’t feel nearly as irritated as he should have at the younger’s whines. Instead, he sighed and tilted his head, trying to see Hyunjin out of the corner of his eye. 

“I was doing it for the team. I’ll get more sleep tonight. Besides,” he said, finally washing the last dish in the sink and setting it up to dry, “I’ve still got to wait for the dough to chill.”   
“Mmmm you know what that sounds like to me?” Hyunjin turned Minho to look at him, and Minho felt an uncontrollable strike of fondness rush through him when he looked into the younger’s eyes. 

“What does it sound like, Jinnie?” He asked, knowing exactly where Hyunjin’s mind was going.

“It’s nap time!” Minho laughed as he was dragged away, and he gave a small smile to Felix, who had just stumbled out of his and Hyunjin’s room. 

“Goodnight Lixie, I’ll see you in a few hours,” Minho called, but before Felix had a chance to respond, the door was slammed in his face and Minho was thrown onto the bed seconds before a cuddly Hyunjin tackled him, practically pinning him to the bed. 

“Night, Hyungie,” Hyunjin muttered, closing his eyes and almost immediately falling back to sleep.

“Sleep well, Jinnie,” Minho responded before he felt his own eyes draw closed.  _ Maybe a nap is what I really do need.  _

_ ~~~ _

A few hours later, Minho was woken up to a loud clang coming from the kitchen. When he felt around in the bed for Hyunjin, he felt a spark of betrayal when he realized the younger was no longer there. 

Not wanting to move, but knowing he had to, Minho rolled out of bed and stumbled back to the kitchen he had been in just a few hours before. The chaos that greeted him made him wish he had stayed in bed. 

There were three cookie sheets that were placed precariously around the kitchen (and likely what caused the clang) and Chan, Changbin, and Jisung were fighting over whether they should use tin foil, parchment paper, or no paper to bake the cookies. Hyunjin, Felix, Woojin, and Jeongin were carefully dolloping icing into icing bags, and Seungmin’s legs were hanging out of the cabinet next to the oven. (Minho didn’t even feel like asking about that one.)

Slowly, he moved into the kitchen, getting greeted by the icing makers, and drawing the attention of the rappers arguing over cookie covers. “Minho-hyung!” Jisung explained, stepping over Seungmin to grab his hand and pull the older boy over to the counter. “Will you tell these idiots that the best thing to cook the cookies with would be the aluminum foil? We’ll be able to keep them more secure that way.”   
“Sung, that’s bullshit. Obviously we need to use parchment paper because it specifies  _ on the box  _ that it’s excellent for baking.” Changbin chimed, waving a box in the air like it was some type of weapon (to Changbin, it probably was.)

“No no, don’t listen to them. We should just spray non-stick cooking spray and go in with the pan itself.”

“That’s how we get STDs, hyung.” Felix chimed from the table. “I’m with Binnie-hyung on this one. Better protected pans than death.”   
Chan stuttered and turned to look at Felix. “We’re  _ not  _ going to get an STD from a  _ cookie sheet.” _

“Always use protection, Channie, I thought you’d know that by now.” Everyone turned and looked at Woojin, and Minho felt a wave of horror wash across him at the implications behind that comment.

“Oh my god,” Jeongin said, and by his paler-than-usual face, Minho figured he had picked up on it too. “Oh  _ ew _ that’s like my  _ parents.”  _ Everyone laughed, and they tried to let the moment go, but based on Chan’s flustered expression, he was out of the running for which cookie method they were using. 

“I think we should use the cookie paper,” Changbin said, turning back to Jisung, defiantly setting the box down next to a cookie pan. 

“I agree with hyung!” Seungmin called from in the cabinet, and Minho finally squatted down to talk to the younger boy. 

“Seungie, what are you doing down there?” Seungmin wiggled out from the cabinet and sat up, looking at Minho with a bright grin on his face.    
“I’m looking for sprinkles!” Minho felt his lip curl at the disheveled state Seungmin was in, and he quickly reached out to run a hand through the boy’s blond hair. 

“Did you try the cabinets by the sink? I think that’s the last place I saw them.” Seungmin’s face momentarily darkened, and he glared at Jisung (probably for leading him on a pointless search), before grinning at Minho again and crawling over to the sink cabinets. 

“I think we should use the parchment paper,” Minho said, standing back up. I’ve used it before, and my fear with the aluminum is that it will cook the cookies faster than we’re expecting because of the extra heat from the other layer of metal.” Minho looked into Jisung’s eyes as he explained all of this, seeing them flash indignantly before settling back into that same happy glint they always seem to have on Fridays. 

“Alright, but I’m going to help you roll the dough balls, hyung,” Jisung said, moving the fridge and grabbing the first wrapped paper. “You always make them too small, and you  _ know  _ how much I prefer bigger balls.”

As everyone snorted into whatever they were doing (children. All of them.), Minho simply curled his lip at Jisung and snatched the dough away, quickly spreading flour and grabbing the cookie cutters from the bag they stored them in. 

“You absolute child. We don’t even do balls with the sugar cookies.” Minho snapped, and Jisung moved over to wrap his arms around the older’s waist.

“I know,” Jisung said, pressing a kiss to the back of Minho’s neck. “I just wanted to get a reaction out of you.”   
Minho chuckled as he listened to the loud chatter of his members behind him. He started swaying and humming, and Jisung buried his face in Minho’s shoulder. 

_ “Have yourself a merry little Christmas,”  _ Minho sang, and because of the chatter from the others, no one seemed to notice the two boys in their own little bubble. 

They continued to sway, and Minho continued to place cookies on the tray, and eventually, Jisung took over the song,  _ “Faithful friends who gather near to us once more.”  _

“I love our friends,” Minho said, smiling fondly as he listened to Jeongin pretend to gag when Seungmin said: “Thanks, Bin,” to Changbin for giving him a tote for the sprinkles to move them to the table. 

“I love you,” Jisung replied.

Minho felt his eyes widen, but he wasn’t sure the younger had even comprehended what he had said. Jisung was half asleep on Minho’s back, and he was surprised he hadn’t collapsed yet from exhaustion. 

Regardless, he still smiled and placed a hand over Jisung’s clasped ones. “I love you too, Sungie. Forever and always.” He removed his hand and began shaping the cookies again, only stopping when he heard Jisung’s reply.    
“Forever and always, Hyung. I promise.”

_ And I promise you, too.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in one day! And with that I'm finally caught up on this fic again hhhhh,,,
> 
> sorry to everybody who expected consistent updates from me, I promise that now that I'm on break, I'll force myself to get the chapters out on time (although we only have 2 left... can you believe that?)
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated! You can also come yell at me on [twt](https://twitter.com/2minlix) if you want. 
> 
> See you some time later this week!! Bye for now <3


	9. 1 Friday til Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a long week for the group. Jisung was scared, but they had survived. Now all the pair wanted to do was cuddle and think about their next break: Christmas day.

Minho was tired. They had spent the last week doing promotions for Levanter, and he was in desperate need of a break. Not that he hated his work. Every time he would get on stage, he would feel the excitement from their fans and he would get a boost of energy for himself, but it was hard to watch Jisung have to plaster on a smile every single time he had to get on stage as well. 

He remembered when the younger had crawled into his bed earlier that week and finally admitted what Minho  _ knew  _ he didn’t want to.  _ “Hyung, I’m scared.”  _

Minho had felt his heartbreak at the small voice his boyfriend had. He looked into the tired, tear-stained eyes, and he wished he could do something to help Jisung. 

_ “I wish I didn’t have to not like crowds. I wish I could be normal like everyone else and just perform. After all,”  _ Jisung had chuckled,  _ “It’s my  _ job  _ to be mobbed by adoring fans. But I just can’t do it anymore.”  _

Jisung looked up at Minho, saw the absolute trust and love he knew was plastered over his face, and he smiled.  _ “They’re going to release a notice tomorrow telling everyone how inadequate I am.”  _

_ “Jisung!”  _ Minho had gasped. 

“ _ It’s the  _ truth  _ hyung! An idol who can’t do basic things like interacting with their fans? What else am I other than broken?” _

_ “You’re  _ human,  _ Sungie.”  _ If Minho had been expecting any reaction to his words, he didn’t get one. Jisung kept his wide eyes fastened on Minho, his mouth parted slightly, and Minho took that as his sign to continue. 

_ “Just because you can’t do your job the way someone else can doesn’t make you any less of an idol. I don’t know any other group who has three amazing producers, one who can churn lyrics out at the drop of a hat. That’s what  _ you  _ do, Sung. Our fans are our fans because they connect with our music before anything else. Do you really think they’re going to leave you the second you admit you’re something less than perfect?” _ _   
_

Jisung opened his mouth to reply, but Minho gently covered it,  _ “If you do, that makes you a hypocrite.”  _ Minho smiled at the younger’s shocked expression and moved his hand to carefully run his fingers through Jisung’s hair.  _ “You can’t tell our fans that it’s okay to be themselves, then shy away the second you have to show some of your own colors to make yourself more comfortable.” _ _   
_

Jisung took a shuddering breath and, when Minho looked down, he was shocked to discover the younger was crying. Minho carefully reached up, wiping the tears away, murmuring “I love you” with each drop. He hated seeing Jisung crying, but he knew it was necessary. The younger boy was carrying so much stress with him, he needed to release all of those pent up emotions. 

_ “Thank you, hyung,”  _ Jisung had said once he found his voice, then he curled into Minho’s side, and the two had drifted off to sleep. 

Now, almost a week later, Minho found himself in almost the same position, except Jisung was much more subdued. 

“Promotions went well this week,” Jisung murmured, nosing Minho’s shoulder. Minho quickly wrapped his arm around Jisung, pulling the younger boy closer to his chest, and he felt Jisung smiled when he got the contact he wanted. 

“Yeah, and did you notice?” Minho asked, “The fans cheered just as loud for you, if not even louder when you would do your part. They’re so proud that you’re taking healthy steps for yourself.”   


“Hyung,” Jisung whispered, tilting his head to look at Minho as best he could. 

“I bet they’re almost as proud as I am,” Minho finished, looking down before pressing a quick peck to Jisung’s forehead. 

“You know,” Jisung began, tucking his head back into Minho’s chest, “I didn’t expect much for Christmas since we had to push the comeback further back. I wasn’t expecting presents or anything like that. Honestly? I’m surprised we managed to not have any promotions that day.”

“Is there a point to this, Sungie?" Minho glanced down at the younger, noticing his quick blinking. "This feels kind of out of nowhere, are you just talking because you don’t want to sleep yet?” Minho asked, feeling his own eyes drift closed as he said it. 

“There’s a point, I swear!” Jisung reached up and poked Minho’s cheek, “So you better stay awake until I’m done, okay?” 

“Bossy,” Minho teased, but he opened his eyes, regardless, and turned his attention to his boyfriend. “Now what were you saying?” 

Jisung poked his tongue out, but Minho could see the way his eyes were curling up, so he knew the other wasn’t  _ too  _ irritated with him. “Before I was so rudely interrupted,” Jisung began again, “I was going to say that this right here, laying in bed with you, is the best Christmas present I could ask for. 

“I haven’t always been one for material things, I think you know that. Sure, I decorate for Christmas and play into all of the marketing and propaganda that comes with it, but at the end of the day, my main reason for doing that is so I can spend time with the people I care about. Sure, decorating the house is fun, but I think it’s much better when you have more than one person to do it. Maybe that makes me silly, I don’t know, but I’m so happy that I’m going to get tomorrow to spend with the group. I’m excited that I’ll have this Christmas to spend with my brothers, even if they’re not my blood family.” 

Minho tried to bite down the soft smile that was threatening to crawl across his face. He knew that the other was trying to be sweet, and it was working, but he felt an overwhelming urge to sweep the younger up into a hug and never let him go.

“Are you done now?” Jisung looked at him, and Minho wanted to do nothing more than kiss the little pout off of his face. 

“Why are you being so mean to me?” Jisung whined. 

Minho reached up and poked the younger’s cheek. “You’re being all sweet and sentimental and it’s really just making me think of how lucky I am to have such a wonderful boyfriend. You know how much we love getting to do things with you too, right? Any time I get to spend time with you I consider it a blessing because you have this absolute joy for life that I can never get enough of.  So if all you want for Christmas is me -- to lay here with me and just be us -- then I can do that for you."

Minho ran his finger through Jisung’s hair, and he smiled, wondering how he had managed to get such an amazing boyfriend. “Did you know that every time I get you a coffee or a candy bar, I look forward to your reaction. Even if you know it's coming, you always get so excited to get those small gifts. I think that is my favorite Christmas present, too. Seeing the joy and childlike wonder whenever you get something. Doing those small things for you, that's what I want whenever I can get it. In a way, I feel like I'm proving I love you with those presents, which is a silly thing because I don't need to prove anything to you but...” Minho trailed of not entirely sure where he had been going with that train of thought. "I-" 

Jisung reached a finger up and held it to Minho's lips, much like he had done with the younger earlier that week.  “Just so you know,” Jisung murmured, tucking his head back into Minho’s chest, “I never wonder whether or not you love me. You show me in every little thing you do. But if you have to buy things to prove that, then I’ll accept it. But you better be ready to accept a kiss each time you get something. And I want the right to surprise you with presents too!”

“Like that was ever a question,” Minho chuckled, running his hand down Jisung’s back before letting it settle at the base of his spine. “You don’t have to bargain with me, you know?” 

“I do whatever I want, Lee Minho. And don’t you ever forget that.” Jisung yawned, and Minho chuckled again before he pulled the younger closer to him. 

A lot had changed in a week. In less than a week they were going to celebrate Christmas as a group. Minho was going to get to relax and spend time with his boyfriend without having to worry about peeping cameras or fans making assumptions or worrying his members. It was a time for them to just be themselves, to just relax, and he was ready. 

_ Less than a week to Christmas, huh?  _ H e thought and, as he curled around Jisung as best he could, smiling at the other's content sigh, he closed his eyes.  _ I guess I can wait that long.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Here's the next Christmas chapter! There's only one left now, can you believe it? The boys have come a long way since this story started, and I hope you appreciate this calm little moment between them. I originally had a plan for the two to go out on a date of some kind, but I think this fits their relationship a bit better, so I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated! You can come and yell at me on [twt](https://twitter.com/2minlix) if you want! Have a nice day, and merry Christmas! <3


	10. Christmas Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is finally here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 12 AM and that's technically Christmas so let's get this bread.

There were very few ways Minho would admit he liked to be woken up:

  1. Of his own accord: when there was no schedule and he didn’t have an alarm set and the house stayed blessedly quiet because of how tired everyone was.
  2. When Jisung was feeling clingy and he would crawl into Minho’s bed, pressing a short kiss to his cheek before going back to sleep. 
  3. When Jisung was feeling flirty and he would kiss Minho until the older was alert enough to kiss him back.
  4. When Jisung was feeling a little_ more_ than flirty and his kisses were… a lot lower and steamier and not _always_ kisses. 

Sadly, there were many ways that Minho would confidently say he did not enjoy being woken up by. One new one he could add to the list was: Jisung jumping on his bed and yelling at him to get up because “It’s Christmas!”

Minho laid in bed for a few more minutes, staring at the top bunk and wondering what he had done to deserve waking up at…  _ what time was it anyway?  _ Minho rolled over to check the time on his phone, feeling a chill run across his shoulder when he moved it out from his blanket cocoon. 

_ 7:38  _ his phone blinked merrily. If he had decided to open the messages for their group chat, he would have seen Jisung texting everyone and telling them to get to the living room because “It’s present time!” He could have closed his phone again and seen the cheesy selfie Hyunjin, Felix, and Jisung had taken on his phone. All three boys were wearing Santa hats, and Jisung was doing his best to make a beard with his hands. That was about as festive as the older boy would go, sadly. 

He didn’t know why, but Christmas had felt like a chore this year. He had been excited to make the batter for the cookies they had decorated, and he loved shopping for the members, but wrapping the presents? Having to decorate cookies even when it stopped being fun (which was about 6 cookies out of the 15 or so he did)? Those were all chores that normally he didn’t mind, but doing it this year just felt exponentially harder. But he tried. He made sure he plastered on a smile and wore the ugly sweater and ate all the cookies and… everything. 

And finally, here it was: Christmas! The day everything was leading up to. He was so excited to see what everyone thought of what he got for them, but he couldn’t find the will to crawl out from under his covers. 

_ 7:43 _ His phone flashed at him, making him squint as another notification popped up, this one in a private chat. 

** _Jisung: _ ** _ If you don’t get your cute little ass down here in the next 3 minutes, I’m dragging you out of your room and I don’t care how naked you might be. We’re celebrating this Christmas together, gdi _

Minho smirked, then crawled out of bed after responding to the younger. 

** _Minho: _ ** _ Kind of ironic to be saying gdi right after Christmas, isn’t it? _

** _Jisung: _ ** _ Shut up before i come in there and shove this whole candy cane down your throat _

** _Minho: _ ** _ Oooo Kinky _

Minho knew the younger boy would follow through with his threats, and quickly threw on pajama pants and a sweatshirt before trudging down the dorm’s hallway to the main living area. When he got there, he was surprised to realize he wasn’t the last one there. 

“Where’s Woojin-hyung?” he asked, settling in next to Jisung, trying to snuggle up next to him, but getting deflected by the younger’s eager bouncing. 

“He’s in the bathroom,” Jisung replied. “Nobody felt like trying to disturb his routine. Remember what happened last time?” Minho did remember. Chan had to wake the older boy up because the company wanted to speak with Woojin about a potential acting position for him, and he had almost lost his hand and head in the process. While they joked the oldest looked like a bear, their multiple attempts to wake him without his alarm proved how similar he could really  _ act  _ like a bear too. 

“Then why did you have to wake  _ me  _ up?” He whined, flopping back into the couch as dramatically as he could. 

“You big baby,” Jisung teased, “I knew you would be up. That’s the only reason I harassed you.”

“You knew I was up because you jumped on my bed.”

“He jumped on my bed too,” Changbin called from across the room, trying to keep Seungmin and Felix from completely squishing him with their combined weight. “You’re not special!”

“He wishes he was,” Felix teased, his voice still rough from lack of use.

“I do, I really do,” Minho sighed, reaching up and pulling Jisung back into his side. “You’re staying with me,” he murmured, “as retribution.”

“Wow, hyung, you can use words that big this early in the morning?” Jisung turned to Minho, making his eyes comically wide. Minho batted at his head before changing his mind and running his fingers through his hair. 

“You’re a mess,” he chided, trying to work out the tangles he found. 

“It’s not like I have to look good for anyone today,” Jisung replied. “You’re the only one here who cares how I look.” 

“You’re beautiful however you look, Sung,” Minho replied. “But no boyfriend of mine will be caught dead with mussed hair like that.” 

“Wow that’s so sweet,” Woojin said, coming through the door and finding a spot beside Chan next to the tree. “Now, are we going to open presents or what?” 

The room quickly exploded in sound, everyone debating how they should pass the gifts out and how they should open them, but Chan quieted everyone down only a minute later, and, with a small smile, he volunteered Jisung to pass the gifts out. Minho felt the younger tense next to him, and he quickly glanced over to make sure he was okay, but when he saw the saw Jisung was eagerly leaning forward, his cheeks slightly flushed, he knew the younger was okay with it. 

After everyone agreed, Jisung clambered up and carefully stepped around all of the limbs to make his way to the tree. He reached down and, checking the names of the first two boxes, began to hand out small gifts to everyone. They had considered doing a white elephant gift exchange, only getting one more-expensive gift as opposed to 8 smaller presents, but Minho had shot that one down, claiming he had their presents already bought and on the way to their dorm, so ordering something now would just mess up his plans. And maybe that wasn’t entirely true, but he knew what he wanted to get for each specific member, and he wouldn’t want to miss the looks on their faces when they opened his presents. That was the best part of Christmas for him: not the songs or the cookies, but giving gifts and seeing the happiness his presents could give. 

And sure enough, Chan was thrilled to get the new headphones (his had been losing sound quality for about a month, but he hadn’t had the time to get something for himself). Woojin gave Minho a big hug (and laugh) when he opened the honey bathing kit. (The older had offhandedly mentioned wanting to try new body care since his previous stuff wasn’t working as well as it used to, and Minho thought he would appreciate the nod to the environment too.)

Changbin had squawked at his new luggage tags (his had been stolen by Jeongin, and he didn’t have the heart to ask for new ones). Hyunjin had jumped up and given Minho a big hug when he saw the shoes with built-in ankle braces (his ankles had been giving him trouble during practice lately, and Minho had seen him looking at braces, but he would complain how they didn’t fit in his shoes well). He had gotten Felix a lighter coverage foundation (the younger boy wanted to show his freckles off more often, but still didn’t like being completely barefaced in public), Seungmin received a box of light blue hair dye (“Because it’s like the sky, and that’s your name. This way you can tease the fans a bit.”), and Jeongin got a sweatshirt (one of Minho’s. He hoped that would make the younger stop stealing his clothes more often, but he knew it was a long shot). 

Jisung had eagerly torn through each present, and his eyes had lit up with each new gift he uncovered, but when he finished, he realized he hadn’t gotten anything from Minho, and turned to look at the older, confused. Minho smiled and whispered, “Later,” and Jisung accepted it. He leaned back into Minho, watching as the rest of the members finished opening their presents. 

After they had cleaned up the wrapping paper, the group migrated to the kitchen where Chan and Minho worked together to plate left-over Christmas cookies while Seungmin and Woojin fried eggs and bacon so their managers wouldn’t be completely disappointed in them. They ate, and then the group parted, each going to do their own thing. 

Chan and Changbin shared a look before quickly gathering all the new recording things they had been given and making a break for the door. Jeongin, Seungmin, Woojin, and Hyunjin all crowded around the TV and chattered while Felix flipped through the different channels, looking for something to watch. Jisung looked like he wanted to follow his fellow producers out the door to their studio, but Minho grabbed the younger’s hand and pulled him down the hallway towards his room. 

“I’m sorry you had to wait for my present,” Minho said as he closed the door. Jisung sat, perched on the edge of Changbin’s bed, a curious glint in his eye. 

“I don’t mind,” he replied, “but why couldn’t you just give it to me in front of everyone?”

“I didn’t want them to mock me.”

“Are you planning on proposing to me? Because, Minnie, I’d have to turn you down.” 

Minho grinned at the younger, “And why is that, Sung?”

“A wedding band wouldn’t fit the hip-hop aesthetic I’ve got going on right now.” Jisung flashed his hand, then remembered that he hadn’t put any of his rings on that morning (likely in his haste to get all the members awake and in the living room), and he quickly put his hand down. 

“Well, the good news is I’m not proposing,” Minho said, moving to his bedside table and pulling two small boxes out of it. He took a deep breath before turning and approaching Jisung, treating him almost like a wild animal. 

“Are you sure about that Min? Those look pretty propose-y to me,” Jisung eyed the boxes, then looked at Minho. He felt his heart thump dangerously in his chest when the younger locked eyes with him, and Minho quickly averted his eyes, sitting on the bed and staring at the boxes.

“There’s no proposal for marriage, but it is a proposal of sorts.” Minho handed one of the boxes to Jisung and waited for the younger to timidly crack it open before continuing. 

“I have one just like it. I want it to be a sign of our commitment to each other. We’ve been together for God-knows how long now, and I just felt that this would be a subtle way we could show we belong to each other in public.

“So… will you accept me?” Minho glanced back at Jisung and realized the younger was still staring at the box. He opened his own, just to make sure he hadn’t messed up and accidentally put both gifts into the same box. When he opened it, the little earring blinked merrily at him. He lifted the small lock and ran his finger over the delicate diamond that had been pressed into the middle of the base. 

Next to him, he saw Jisung finally move, carefully lifting the small key earring out of the box. Where the ring would meet the bar, there was a diamond just like the one in Minho’s lock. Both earrings would dangle just a little higher than their lip, but when they were next to each other, the meaning was clear. 

“I… I have the key to your heart?” Jisung whispered, his eyes wide and filled with tears when he turned to look at Minho.

“You always have,” Minho replied, and Jisung tackled him only a few seconds later. However, instead of kisses or tickling or anything else Minho would have expected from the younger, he simply laid on his chest, eyes closed and breathing deeply. 

“Thank you,” Jisung said, sitting up only to put the new earring in. He ducked back down to Minho’s chest, but he wouldn’t have let the younger stay away from him any longer than he had to. 

“I love you,” Jisung sighed, and Minho smiled, moving the hand that had been running up and down Jisung’s back to place the lock into his own ear.

“And I love you, too.”

“Merry Christmas.”

Minho smiled as the younger drifted back to sleep. He had probably been up far later than he should have been last night, and Minho was glad that the younger could get sleep now. He thought of all the excitement that had grown throughout the week as they waited for Christmas to come. Minho had been anxious for this moment, but it was worth it now. He had Jisung in his arms, his members down the hallway, and the pure joy that permeated the air was infectious. 

As he began to drift off to sleep, he felt a smile crawl across his face. His hand stilled on the small of Jisung’s back, and, right before he let sleep claim him, he whispered, “Merry Christmas.”

And it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAHHHHH IT'S FINISHED!!!! Thank you to everyone who stuck around this long, I know I haven't been the best about updating this fic, but it's done now and I'm super proud of how it turned out! Thank you so so much for reading and sticking with me if you were reading the updates as they were posted.
> 
> Now that it's over, which moment was your favorite? Mine was definitely the dancing chapter~ 
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated, thank you again to everyone who read this. It's now time to leave this world, but you can keep updated with my new writings [here](https://twitter.com/2minlix)!
> 
> Finally, Merry Christmas! <3

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm going to try to update this every Friday/Saturday until Christmas (unless I get overwhelmed, but I swear I have something for every week)  
If you want to say anything, I've got cc or you can find me on twitter
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!! I'll see y'all later this week with the next update :)


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